Coming from the Shadows
by Ariis Crystalbane
Summary: AU Minato made a few lasting changes to Konoha before he died stopping the greatest of the Bijuu from destroying Konoha. How will this affect Naruto and the rest of Konoha in the dark days to come?
1. Graduation

**A/N:** Just a reminder - This is AU, so there may be some things that contradict what you understand about the series, but for the most part that is intentional. There -may- be some mistakes I make in this regard in the future, but those will be few and far between.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, this will be the only Disclaimer for the entire fic. It's for the entire fic.

* * *

**Coming from the Shadows: Graduation**

Eagerly bouncing on his toes, Naruto eyed the clock. _Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._ Just a few more seconds...

"Naruto, your examination will be in room 203, Mizuki-sensei will be overriding your exam. Good luck." Iruka said before turning to the others in the room.

"Shikamaru, your examination will be in room 206..." the rest of Umino Iruka's voice drowned out as Naruto left the classroom towards his examination.

* * *

He was finally going to be a genin.

Stopping in front of the door, he knocked.

"Enter."

Opening the door, Naruto entered and leaned back on only unoccupied piece of furniture in the room. Meeting Mizuki's eyes, he motioned for the Chuunin to proceed.

"Perform the three basic academy jutsu: Henge, Bunshin, and Kawarimi. After which, we'll head to the field for your target test and taijutsu test. Afterwards, you'll get your results."

Naruto nodded, before bringing up his hands before running through a few hand signs. _Dog. Boar. Ram._

With a small cloud of smoke, standing in Naruto's place was Hyuuga Hiashi, clan head of the Hyuuga clan. Eyes cold and hard, he said, "What did you bring me here for, Chuunin Mizuki?"

Clapping lightly, he said, "Nicely done on the Henge, Naruto."

With an unnatural smirk on Hiashi's face, Naruto released the technique before substituting with the chalk on the blackboard behind his instructor. And like with the Henge, Naruto ran through three quick signs. _Ram. Snake. Tiger._

A single unhealthy clone popped by next to Naruto. Pale, collapsed, with its tag lolling out. Naruto smiled with a sheepish expression. "I can never get that technique right. I swear it hates me or something," he grumbled out.

"Moving on, though. Head to the fields, I'll be there momentarily." Mizuki said, as he jotted down a few things on his notes.

* * *

Fingering his kunai holster, Naruto waited down at the field where the target dummies sat patiently.

He didn't have long to wait before Mizuki arrived.

"Pick two targets. Five kunai and five shuriken each. One you aim for glancing blows, assume your weapons are coated in a paralytic poison and you need to capture the target alive. The other you aim to kill, assume it's a foreign shinobi that is faster than you and is trying to escape with sensitive information."

Grinning, Naruto palmed a kunai and let loose. Thirty seconds later, seven shuriken, and six kunai litter the grounds in front of him.

"Dammit," he cursed under his breath, did worse than usual.

Writing down the results, Mizuki put the results to the side and gestured for Naruto to join him.

"Now for the Taijutsu test. Notice the circle surrounding us. Your job is to stay in the circle for as long as you can, and try to be the only one in the circle." Mizuki paused here. "Of course, it's not like you _can _push me out of this circle anyways," he finished with a smirk.

Growling, Naruto said, "Bring it on, sensei."

The two circled each other warily, each taking it seriously. Without any hint of intent, both launched themselves at the other, exchanging a flurry of blows. Mizuki ducked under a punch before kicking and launching Naruto to the edge of the circle.

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto dug his toes into the ground before launching at Mizuki with increased ferocity. "No way am I losing this quickly."

Widening his eyes slightly at the speed Naruto showed, Mizuki blocked the attack before moving back to use Naruto's momentum against him. He grabbed Naruto's forearm and went to throw him from the ring.

Naruto grabbed Mizuki's forearm himself, and after twisting himself so he landed straight down and not out, he threw Mizuki from the ring.

Mizuki twisted in mid-air and landed gracefully outside the circle.

"Unfortunately, Naruto, this is your loss." He gestured to Naruto's feet.

He swore under his breath once more, he took half a step outside of the circle when he threw Mizuki.

"Report to room 103 at ten, tomorrow for your results." Mizuki said before disappearing in a shunshin.

* * *

Naruto groaned as he made his way through the streets of Konoha. He was so close to winning that spar against Mizuki-sensei. Smiling sadly, he gazed at the other villagers in the area. He wished he had just a little more attention. He was neither swarmed with attention nor ignored. Hated or loved. Mistreated or favored. He simply was just there. Alone.

Entering the Yakiniku shop, he spotted a few of his classmates. "Hey Shika, Choji, Kiba. How'd your exams go?"

Kiba grinned widely, "Kicked my examiner's ass, of course." He boasted proudly, like the Alpha male he_ thinks_ he is. "I can just taste the Rookie of the Year award."

Smiling cheekily, Naruto said, "You sure it's not the Yakiniku you're tasting?"

Gaining a smile from his heftier friend, he said, "And you Choji, Shika?"

"I think I did well. Probably." Choji mumbled in between bites of food. This wasn't his favorite restaurant in Konoha for no reason.

Shikamaru just sighed, muttering under his breath about nosy blondes.

"Who do you think is going to be on your team, guys?" Naruto continued, not wanting to let the conversation die out.

"It'd be nice to be on a team with Hinata and Shino," Shikamara said. "Nice and quiet..."

Naruto snorted. "Right. Have fun with that." Pausing momentarily, he said, "I'm not entirely sure who I'll be on a team with, though. I'd like to think I did better than average on the exam but... I swear Bunshin hates me, I'm telling you. I completely messed that up, and on top of that I did horribly with the targets, too. I'm usually top of the class with that." He groaned in frustration.

"It'd be fun to be on a team with you and Choji, Naruto." Kiba said with a wide grin. "No one could stop us."

"Right. Until they learned what a jutsu was." Naruto deadpanned at the thought of three close-range specialists with no long-range jutsu between the three of them in a team.

He sighed, and then got up. "Got to get going now, hopefully some of use will be in a team together. See you guys tomorrow."

Heading out, he left the restaurant and headed to his apartment.

* * *

"I'm home." He muttered softly to himself, the empty dwelling was as chilling as usual. "Kaa-san...Tou-san...why'd you have to leave me all alone?" He whispered painfully, tears prickling the corners of his eyes.

Taking a few deep breaths, he calmed himself down. "Right. Training. He headed to his room, before grabbing the scroll his parents left behind. The only thing he had of them.

"Right. I just mastered the vertical-surface walking technique the other day, so it's onto this next one now..." he muttered as he unrolled the scroll. "Mmm... Kage Bunshin. Shared awareness... Requires at least average Chuunin level Chakra to use safely... Can be used as a training tool, but relatively easily dispelled. Sure, why not?" He mumbled to himself.

Slowly, he crossed his fingers into the ram seal and began channeling his chakra.

He was pretty fortunate to have this scroll, it was pretty detailed, but it was fairly advanced. after he learned a technique, that technique would disappear from the scroll. And he couldn't see the next technique until he finished with the shown one.

Closing his eyes, he calmed his breathing and felt as his chakra began to change shape. Opening his eyes, he seemed to be staring at his twin... no, his clone. It dispelled almost instantly, a sign that the jutsu wasn't performed correctly.

'Here we go again...' he thought to himself. He never got one right on the first try.

* * *

Naruto blinked tiredly as his alarm clock woke him up. Stretching as he got out of the bed, he ran his fingers through his crimson mane, his most noticeable inheritance from his mother.

Taking a quick shower, Naruto headed to his closet. Pulling out some clothes he threw a soft-brown shirt with a black jacket and pants. Rubbing the last dregs of sleep from his eyes he opened his front door and softly said, "I'm off. Tou-san... Kaa-san."

* * *

He entered room 103 at the academy to find he wasn't the first one there. Most of the other clan heirs were already there, Aburame Shino, Akimichi Choji, Hyuuga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru, Uchiha Sasuke, Yamanaka Ino. Only one missing was the brash Inuzuka heir, Kiba.

Pulling up a seat next to the Akimichi and Nara heirs, he said, "You guys excited to finally get out of the academy and onto a team?"

Shikamaru didn't answer, as he was, predictably, resting on his desk waiting for their instructors to arrive.

Choji nodded, "Yeah. I hope I get on a good team to make my dad proud."

Naruto nodded in understanding. He lived alone, but even still he wanted to make his parents proud of him.

The door to the classroom opened as their Academy sensei filed in. "Everyone in this group is deemed having enough overall attributes or potential worthy to be placed in the Shinobi force. When I call up your name, take your hitai-ate and return to your seats."

"Aburame Shino." The heir to the clan of Kikaichu silently strode forward and claimed his hitai-ate, attaching it to the traditional place upon his forehead.

"Akimichi Choji."

"Haruno Sakura."

"Hyuuga Hinata."

"Inuzu-"

The door to the classroom burst open. "Sorry I'm late!" Kiba declared loudly, with a yip from his ninken, Akamaru.

Iruka just sighed, "Seeing as you're already up here..." he said, silently handing Kiba his hitai-ate.

Coughing once, he continued on.

"Nara Shikamaru."

"Naruto."

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Yamanaka Ino."

As the last individual took their hitai-ate and sat back down, Iruka began to posture into his lecture mode. As was inherently obvious by the stiffening of the students in front of him. "You nine are the decided individuals to be chosen for this years group of Genin.

"Be warned that you're merely potential Genin at this point. It will be up to your individual Jounin-sensei to decide if you're ready for the responsibility to be a shinobi of Konoha, if you need more time at the academy, or if you're unworthy of being a shinobi of Konoha for whatever reason."

A thick, heavy silence descended upon the Genin hopefuls before Iruka spoke up once more.

"I will now read off your teams. Teams 1-6 are still in rotation, as is team nine. Aburame Shino, Naruto, and Yamanaka Ino, you three will be the core of team Seven, your Jounin-sensei will be..."

* * *

**A/N:** I'm a brilliant author, aren't I? First chapter completely destroys one of the most common teams (Ina-Shika-Cho) and then right after that I leave you guys with a cliff hanger.

I do have one question to ask, though. I've already decided upon the pairings in this story, but...I'm uncertain on if I should tag it as such (so those who look for it can find it easily) or not (so it's not extremely obvious as to who will be with whom). Please answer in any reviews. Thank you.


	2. Making Plans

**Coming from the Shadows: Making Plans **

"...Uchiha Itachi."

The only sign of annoyance from Sasuke was a slight narrowing of his eyes.

"Haruno Sakura, Nara Shikamaru, and Uchiha Sasuke, you three will be the core of Team Eight. Your Jounin-sensei will be Yuuhi Kurenai."

Shikamaru let out a soft moan. "Troublesome. To be paired up with the loudest kunoichi in Konoha..." His new teammate showed remarkable restraint in resisting the urge to pummeling him for that remark.

"Akimichi Choji, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba, you three will the core of Team Ten. Your Jounin-sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma."

Iruka put his lists back down on his desk and said, "Why don't you acquaint yourselves with your new teammates, your Jounin-sensei won't be here for another half an hour." Iruka left the room to the Genin hopefuls.

Motioning the other members of Team Seven, Naruto said, "I don't really know either of you. You were always pretty quiet, Shino, so I never got the chance. As for you, Ino... I have no excuse." He smiled sheepishly, well aware that wasn't going to fly.

Ino just rolled her eyes at the boy. "Well, I guess we can go with a bit of an in-depth introduction. The only thing we really know about each other is our names. I'm Yamanaka Ino. I like gardening and gossiping. I don't like taijutsu. I'd like to master the mind arts of my clan and make my clan proud."

Nodding softly, Shino followed her example. "My name is Aburame Shino. I like to discover new species of bugs to further the growth of my clan. I don't like those who kill bugs needlessly and destructive jutsu. I seek to master every Kikaichu type my clan has."

"I'm Naruto. I like training, hanging out with friends, and..." Naruto bit his lip, as he paused. "I don't like those who favor or discriminate against people without knowing the individuals involved. I seek to master all the shinobi arts and prove myself worthy as a shinobi of Konoha."

Shino and Ino exchanged a short glance wondering what it was Naruto didn't say.

The trio exchanged in small talk as they got to know each other a bit as they waited for their Jounin-sensei to arrive.

* * *

Uchiha Itachi smiled as he watched the three get to know each other. Silently, he released his hold on his chakra and landed silently next to his team. "Ino, Shino, and Naruto. Follow me. We have your final genin test to discuss."

The three exchanged glances before silently following Itachi out.

* * *

They found themselves in a café, and after ordering some food, consisting of Donburi, Somen, Chazuke, and Onigiri, the four got right to business. "I'm your sensei, Uchiha Itachi. I enjoy teaching my little brother, and finding ways to improve myself. I hate conflict and those who seek it above all else. My dream is to find peace for Konoha." Itachi said, taking a sip of his tea as he finished.

"Tomorrow at seven, you three are to report at Training Ground Three for your Genin Test. Bring whatever equipment you feel is necessary." Finished with what he had to say, and with his Onigiri. He ghosted out of the room silently, before his students were even aware of it.

Naruto blinked in shock and said, "With skills like that, we have got to be successful tomorrow. Just think of what he could teach us?" He was practically bouncing in his excitement.

Shino nodded. "Indeed. It would be prudent of us to ascertain the skills of our sensei. Perhaps we could each spend a few hours trying to verify what our test would be and then meet up back here around four to discuss what we've uncovered and make any plans, if at all feasible from what we learn. At the very least, we could then discuss any skills that weren't revealed at the Academy."

Naruto smiled. "I like that. What do you say Ino, we do this or just hope we can handle whatever he throws our way tomorrow?"

Ino shook her head in disbelief. "Well, I didn't really expect that. But let's do this. I don't want to be the reason we fail, if we do fail." Finishing up the rest of her Somen, she stood and left her portion of the meal on the table. See you two at four."

The two boys quickly followed suit and left the café.

* * *

Four hours later, Naruto made his way back to the café were his teammates were waiting.

Glancing at them, he gestured for them to start. "While my search wasn't as fruitful as would have been desired, I did discover one interesting point of interest." Shino said, "This is Uchiha Itachi's first attempt at forming a Genin team."

Nodding, Ino said, "I looked through the archives to see if I could discover something of interest. And one thing to note was that in the past - this only changed recently, there were twenty-seven genin hopefuls and with each batch there were always three genin teams formed, the other eighteen were either sent back to the academy or barred from the shinobi work force. In the past thirteen years since this was changed, only three teams have failed. So it's almost certainly a test that is within our ability to handle. So if our test was, for example, to beat our Jounin-sensei, and it seemed out of our ability, there is probably a hidden meaning. I think." She finished, somewhat unsure. "I also found some information on tests that were handled in the past, but they vary in purpose..." Ino added on, almost as an afterthought.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Naruto said, agreeing with her. "My bit of information is probably less helpful, but it may be the most interesting piece of information thus far. I don't know the why, but what I did discover was that our sensei was chosen for us by the request of the Hokage."

Ino and Shino looked at him in surprise. "Just how reliable is this information?" Ino asked, wide-eyed.

Naruto pouted, before winking at her to show he took no offense to that question. "I think it's fairly reliable," he said. "I overheard two Uchiha talking about it over at the Yakiniku shop. No clue what it means and what we can do for this information, but what we can do with what we know is share our abilities with each other and make a few plans based on possible scenarios we can think would be administered."

Glancing around, Naruto felt that their current location probably wasn't best for the intended discussion. "Ino, Shino. Mind if we relocate? I don't want my abilities to be well-known. Never know if someone is eavesdropping on our conversation." Despite their confusion, they agreed, and followed Naruto.

* * *

Arriving at his apartment, he gestured for them to follow him inside. "I'm home." he said to the empty building, as usual. They followed him into the sitting room and sat around the kotatsu.

"Alright. Thank you. Now as to continue where we left off. I know basic fuuinjutsu. I've got a great deal of mastery over the Henge and Kawarimi, and while I am unable to do the Bunshin for reasons unknown, I have just recently learned a clone jutsu in its place. My area of expertise would either be taijutsu or bukijutsu. In that category, I'm fairly skilled with kunai, shuriken, and wire strings, and I'm in the process of learning to handle staves and ninjato properly. I don't know an elemental jutsu at this point. I can do the vertical-surface walking technique - although I can only maintain constant control of that for ten minutes before my chakra is disrupted. I don't know any genjutsu or ninjutsu."

Following his lead, Shino said, "I have moderate skills with Taijutsu and I can hold my own in it. I don't have any jutsus based off of Kikaichu usuage, but I can control them and use them for both offense and defense. I know one defensive ninjutsu, Doton: Doryuheki. Takes a lot of chakra to use it, so at this point I can only reliably use it once. Most genjutsu doesn't work very well on me, due to my Kikaichu, but I know none at this stage. I have average skills in bukijutsu, and it only consists of kunai and shuriken."

Mentally appraising her two teammates, Ino began to list her abilities. "I'm pretty bad at taijutsu, and I've got a fair amount of mastery over the academy jutsu. I'm proficient at recognizing genjutsu and dispelling them. None of my clan jutsu are reliable to use at the moment. I don't know any taijutsu, and I'm not very skilled with shuriken and kunai."

There was a brief silence as the three took in each others skills and mentally compared each other. "So. As is, we'd work best with Shino and me in close combat, with him taking advantage of the lack of distance to use his Kikaichu and me using my expertise in taijutsu and weapons to try to get him off-balance. Ino covering my flank so that if I get caught in a genjutsu she can dispel it quickly, and perhaps throwing kunai and shuriken when openings show up. Does that sound good?" Naruto said, giving their formation some thought.

"Mm. Perhaps. How skilled are you with staves and ninja-to at this point?" Ino asked, not exactly pleased with her determined role, but unable to refute the point given her skill set, or lack of one.

With tinted cheeks, Naruto said, "Um. I'm still learning. I'm not confident enough to use them in a fight, I'd probably put us at a disadvantage if I did so."

"What about using a clone or two at long-range to heckle with kunai and shuriken? And perhaps using Kawarimi to save your clone if at all possible. I imagine it takes a great deal of chakra to perform and sustain." Shino offered.

"Perhaps, perhaps." Naruto said with a grin. He liked his team.

The trio continued to make plans long into the night.


	3. Teamwork

**Coming from the Shadows: Teamwork**

As the sun's rays shone into the sleeping area where Naruto lived, his bed remained empty. If it weren't for the slight warmth the bed exuded, an ignorant observer might think Naruto never went to sleep that night.

Dishing himself up a quick meal, Naruto ate slowly, his mind occupied with the upcoming Genin test. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he finished the rest of his breakfast and took note of the time.

Throwing on his usual jacket, he left his house and headed to the training grounds.

* * *

Arriving at Training Ground Three with a few minutes to spare, he spotted his new friends. "Hey Shino and Ino, excited for this?" he asked, grinning. "I know I am."

Shino merely raised an eyebrow, only just detectable over the sunglasses he wore. Ino, however, looked at him incredulously and said, "I'm more nervous than excited."

Naruto opened his mouth, but before he could put words to his thoughts, he was interrupted. "Excellent. The three of you are here. Let's get straight to business. I'm going to test your abilities. If you can land a blow on me, you pass. If you can't, you don't. I won't be using my Sharingan, and I'll only act defensively, but other than that, I'll be taking this completely seriously, you three. You have two hours. Begin." Itachi said, walking out from behind a nearby tree.

The three stared at him surprised, then after sharing a short glance, the trio leapt back into the trees.

"So, how are we going to play this, Ino, Shino? The formation we came up with yesterday?" Naruto asked, words only just audible to his nearby teammates.

Shino nodded, but Ino quickly snorted. "That's fine and dandy for you two. What with being up in front and having many chances to land a hit. What if he's serious and if I don't land a hit in and he fails me for it?" She asked, real worry creeping into her voice.

Naruto smiled softly. "I told you yesterday, right? I'm got a master at the Kawarimi, and I've got access to a couple solid clones with kage bunshin. I can safely use two at a time, and can create one more if they dispel. Shino and I will try to force Itachi to focus on us. Shino, try to use your Kikaichu to drain his chakra. I'll have one of my clones attack from range with kunai and shuriken, but I'll have another up front with me and Shino. When my clone gets an opening, it'll kawarimi with you, Ino, so pay attention and try to use that opportunity, okay?"

Getting a hesitant nod from Ino, and a static gaze from Shino, Naruto stood up and said, "Let's do this."

* * *

Leading the way, Naruto brought his teammates to Itachi. He brought his hands into the ram seal and two copies of him were formed. Leaving one clone with Ino, the others closed the gap between Itachi and him and engaged in a fierce taijutsu battle.

It was completely one-sided, and totally not fair. If only he could safely use more clones, maybe then it'd be more even.

The Naruto in the rear found an opening and launched a flurry of shuriken. He grinned, there was no way Itachi was going to get out of that.

He watched in shock as Itachi threw a single kunai that deflected all the shuriken out of harm's way and forced the three next to him to jump back to avoid the shuriken.

All motion stopped for a moment there. "That...that was awesome. And deadly." Naruto muttered, in awe of Itachi's abilities with weapons. With renewed vigor, Naruto charged at Itachi once more. Launching himself at Itachi, as an opportunity presented itself, Naruto's clone suddenly substituted with Ino and Itachi found himself hit three times all at once.

Smiling, Itachi eyed the three of them and said, "You three pass."

Naruto let out a little laugh, "That was fun."

"Now that you three are officially on my Genin team, I've got a few things to tell you. One, let me know if any of you need funds for anything, we won't be doing many missions early on, I'll be prioritizing training. If you need funds, then we'll do a mission, you won't enjoy the mission, but it serves a purpose. Two, I have high expectations for the three of you, and as such, unless you surpass those expectations you three will not be participating in the upcoming Chunin exams. Finally, the purpose of this squad is to be able to handle any situation, any mission, whether or not unexpected situtations occur. We have the balance to handle genjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu specialists. Each of you will be able to act properly on stealth missions." Itachi said, leveling each of them with a firm gaze. Training starts later today, do what you need to do, and report to the Uchiha compound at two." He left with a shunshin leaving three stunned genin in place.

"Alrighty then. Want to join me at Ichiraku's, Shino, Ino?" Naruto asked, getting hungry.

The two nodded, and they left to get some food.

* * *

Arriving at the warm ramen stall, the trio entered.

"Welcome, what can I get you three?" the waitress, a young brown-haired woman with soft features asked.

"Two pork ramen for me, Ayame." Naruto said, having been here more times than he'd care to admit.

"Vegetable for me," Ino said, wanting a light meal for now.

"Miso," Shino said with a stoic expression.

Gathering their orders, Ayame left to the back.

"'Ayame', huh?" Ino said, with a teasing expression. "Getting all friendly with the waitress here, I see."

Amused, Naruto said, "No, it's not like that. They were the first to take any real notice of me. Being an orphan, most of Konoha doesn't really see me. I'm just kind of in the background for them."

Ino smiled softly at the boy, "Well, we're here for you now, Naruto."

"Thanks, Ino, Shino."

Before more could be said, Ayame returned with their bowls. Setting them down in front of their respective consumers, she said, "Enjoy your meal."

* * *

As the hour approached two, the three genin made their way to the Uchiha compound. Having taken on the role of leader for their little group, Naruto went up to the Uchiha guards. "Naruto, Ino, and Shino reporting for training to Itachi-sensei, Uchiha-san."

The guard looked over the three with the sharingan to detect if any henges, genjutsu, or the like were used. Pleased that he didn't have to deal with that, he gestured for them to go inside. "Itachi-san informed us of your pending arrival, you will find him down at the lake."

Nodding their heads in thanks, they ventured through the gates and into the Uchiha compound. Quickly, they arrived at the lake where their sensei was waiting. "Do the three of you know the tree walking exercise?" He asked.

The three nodded.

"Very good, if somewhat unexpected. And the water-walking technique?"

That got three shakes of the head. "Thought as much. Before we advance in training, I'll have you learn to water walk, it's an extremely important skill for shinobi to learn, as one never knows when you'll be forced to fight in an environment where it's necessary and it's best to be prepared."

Walking onto the water before them, he continued, "Unlike the tree walking exercise, the water-walking technique is not just an application of chakra. Water is fluid, and as such, the necessary amount of chakra to maintain your hold on the water's surface fluctuates. Additionally, it's not a solid surface, so a constant flow of chakra is needed so as to not fall in."

Glancing at Ino and Shino in turn, Naruto took the first step onto the water, and quickly found himself soaking from head to toe. "I had hoped I'd have been able to at least hold my ground for a split second," he said, spitting out a mouthful of water. Ino and Shino tentatively followed his lead and stepped onto the water themselves, with a great deal more success than Naruto.

Ino lasted a full two seconds before she lost her footing and was quickly submerged.

Shino, on the other hand, lasted longer than Ino, and only sunk to his waist when he lost control. "This process is more difficult than I would have previously presumed. Seems I need more chakra to counteract the underwater currents." He said, muttering to himself.

Glaring at his two teammates at their first attempts, he leapt back on top of the water's surface with increased intensity.

* * *

As the sun met the horizon and the rays of light began to fade, the trio panted as progress was exceedingly slow. Naruto could only manage five seconds before he was submerged, whereas Ino and Shino each topped two minutes.

"Alright. We're done for the day. Don't want you to catch cold." Itachi said, as he approached them. "Any questions before you leave?"

"Yeah, I've got one, sensei. Generally how long do D-Ranks take and how much we get, individually, from them?" Naruto asked,

"As sensei, I get half the reward from D-Ranks, but the reward ranges from five thousand ryō to fifty thousand ryō. So you can expect to get about eight hundred to eight thousand ryō per D-Rank mission. As for the duration, the cheap ones generally only last a matter of hours. But the ones that give rewards close to the fifty thousand ryō mark are generally long duration, probably around a week long."

Nodding his head slowly, Naruto did some simple mental math. "If that's the case, I will probably need two to three missions a week, at least until we start doing C-Rank missions."

Itachi nodded, "Alright. That's good to know. Ino, Shino, what about you?"

The two shook their heads, "That number of missions will be sufficient for any income needs I may have at the time being. If unexpected circumstances materialize, I will inform you then, sensei," Shino said.

Ino just glanced at her teammates.

"Alright. Ino, Shino, you're dismissed. I have something to discuss with you Naruto."

As Naruto's new friends left, he said, "And that is what, sensei?"

"I knew your parents, Naruto."


	4. Truth

**Coming from the Shadows: Truth**

Naruto woke up to the shrill trilling of the birds outside. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he got out of bed. "I wonder who else knows," Naruto muttered, surprised at Itachi's revelation the night before.

Throwing on some clothes, Naruto quickly left to meet up with his team. Walking through the streets of Konoha, he scrutinized the citizens and other shinobi he passed. He frowned. Didn't seem like any of them really recognized him as the Yondaime's son.

* * *

Arriving at the café where the team had their first real get-together, he saw he was the first to arrive. Seating himself, in clear view of the entrance, he sat patiently, thoughts split between what the scroll just recently revealed to him and the fact that for at least one other individual, his heritage was known. He frowned at the direction his thoughts were taking him. He didn't want to think that his sensei saw him as his parent's son instead of as himself.

Hearing the chime of the door jangle, he looked up and saw his teammates approaching, only Itachi was absent now. "Hey Ino, Shino." Naruto greeted them as they slid in next to him. "What do you think we're going to do today? More of the water-walking exercise?"

"Perhaps." Ino said, "it would make sense with what he said on the topic yesterday."

Shino nodded, "In addition to that possibility, there is also the likelihood of our team undergoing our first mission. I've heard rumors of one such mission, and even if they are only marginally accurate I would find partaking in that mission exceedingly distasteful."

Ino frowned. "Where is Itachi-sensei? He should have been here by now."

"Think I should go look? I could leave a clone here in case he shows up, maybe?" Naruto asked, a little wary at their sensei's lateness. He's been particularly punctual thus far.

As Naruto stood to make the ram seal, Itachi walked out from the shadows. "I'm not particularly impressed with your observant skills, you three. I've been in the shop the entire time." Itachi said, disappointed. "Seems like you three have another skill to improve upon."

As he walked past them, he motioned with his hand. "Come. Shino was right, we do have our first mission today, and you can be relieved it isn't the mission you heard whispers of, Shino."

Naruto and Ino shared an amused glance before they followed their sensei.

* * *

They arrived at the Academy where missions were handed out, and approached the Hokage. "Team Seven requests a mission, Hokage-sama." Itachi said, announcing their presence.

"Very well, I believe you wanted this one, correct?" the Hokage said, handing Itachi a scroll.

Glancing over the mission details, Itachi nodded. Turning swiftly, he lead them out of the Academy.

"Our mission is on the outskirts of Konoha. We are to assist farmers in harvesting their crops and repairing their fences."

* * *

"Fujimoto-san, we are Team Seven, contracted with assisting you with your farm work for the day." Itachi said, shortly after their arrival.

The old man nodded in thanks. "Let me show you the process. And be careful. Any mistakes will be taken out of your pay." He said, strictly.

The three young ninja watched him like a hawk, determined not to make any mistakes.

* * *

Several hours later, the three genin collapsed to the ground exhausted. "I never knew farm work could be so tiring." Naruto said, having a new-found respect for farmers.

Ino nodded tiredly, lacking the energy to speak in agreement.

Shino, however, was interested in a newly discovered insect found on the farm.

Itachi just chuckled at the three. "If you three are done resting, we should report back to Hokage-sama as our mission is complete. I'd still like to fit in some training today."

Naruto smiled weakly, whereas his teammates just stared at Itachi like he was insane. A complete sadist. Groaning in discomfort, the three genin got up and followed Itachi back.

* * *

Returning to the Academy, Team Seven presented themselves to the Hokage. "We've finished our mission, Hokage-sama." Itachi said.

"Well done. The four of you will find the deposits in your accounts later today." The Hokage said, giving them a subtle dismissal.

"Of course, Hokage-sama." Itachi said with a slight bow. Leading his team away from the Academy. He turned to them with a feral smile. "And now, today's training begins."

The three genin distinctly wondered how Itachi made the word training sound like torture.

* * *

Unlike the day before where they were training to master the water-walking exercise at the lake within the Uchiha compound, today they found themselves at a natural hot springs undiscovered by Konoha's civilians.

"Today's training is simple. You water walk successfully, or you find yourself submerged in scalding waters." Itachi told them, curious at how well they'd react to this method of training.

Naruto just glared defiantly at his sensei and marched confidently onto the calm surface. Surprising both his teammates and his sensei, he was able to stay on top of the water's surface without any signs of sinking. "I thought we were going to do some real training today, sensei." Naruto whined out, reminding Itachi of the fact that while they are ninja, they're still children.

Itachi raised an eyebrow at the boy. "And just how did you suddenly master this exercise?"

"Um. I might have continued training after I got home." Naruto said, looking like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Until when?" Itachi asked, voice stern.

"I might have stayed up for a while and went to bed at two?" Naruto stated, almost as a question.

"You only got five hours of sleep?"

"Try three. I wake up at five." Naruto corrected his sensei, unable to keep his mouth shut.

Itachi practically growled at the boy. "You are going to sit there, and watch while your teammates train. I forbid you from training. Absolutely forbid it."

"Um, I take it I should mention I have two kage bunshin training at home, more or less twenty four seven?" Naruto added on, apparently unable to keep his lips from flapping.

Itachi just looked at the red-haired boy. He opened his mouth a few times as if to say something then just shut it. "Never mind. Never mind. I'm going to ignore that. I'm going to completely ignore that." Itachi said, mostly to himself, before turning to his other two genin.

"Get to work, you two. With Naruto training like that, you'll have to work hard so he doesn't leave you two behind." Itachi said, wanting to motivate his teammates.

And it worked. They instantly leapt to the water's surface and began working to master the technique.

Itachi turned back to his other student. "You are going to tell me, right now, every last thing you are capable of, where you learned it, and anything new you're aware of that I should be privy to."

Naruto just looked down and said, "Everything I've learned has more or less been self taught using a scroll my parents left me. It's how I learned the kage bunshin, and began learning to use weapons. As you might have noticed, I'm not going to rely solely on weapons. Only having a single attack method makes one easy to be countered. In fact, what I know of you, sensei, has been something of an inspiration of mine. I hope to, one day, master every shinobi art there is. Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, Bukijutsu, Bunshinjutsu, Fuinjutsu, and the many other subsets of the shinobi way."

Itachi looked stunned. "What you know of me...?" He asked, surprised.

"You're not like most of your other clansmen. You possess a high degree of skill in the three main shinobi arts, and you don't rely on your sharingan to pave the way to victory. It's merely a tool for you, much like a kunai or a shuriken, whereas most Uchiha, from what I've heard, treat the Sharingan as a way of life." Naruto said, getting a little nervous.

Itachi smiled genuinely at him. "Thank you, Naruto. You don't know how much those words mean to me."

"Anytime, sensei." Naruto said, smiling.

"Sensei! We've done it." Ino yelled out, reminding Itachi that it wasn't just him and Naruto there.

"Well done." Itachi said, nodding. "I guess we can start the next part of my teaching. For that we must decide upon roles depending on the mission type."

"As an example, the one in charge of staying back and protecting a client while his or her teammates take out enemy threats?" Shino asked, eloquently as usual.

"Indeed, Shino." Itachi said. "From what I've seen Naruto is probably the best individual for protecting a client."

"What?" Naruto and Ino asked in unison, surprised.

"Yes. With his clones he can, by himself, form a triangle around the client, protecting them from attacks of any direction with no blind spots. In addition, with his weapon skills, he could still participate in the fights without endangering the client." Itachi said, elaborating. "Shino is also a possibility. With his Kikaichu, he'd have a fairly large circle of protection around the client. He wouldn't be able to provide as much long distance support or as much protection for the client as Naruto, but he still remains a decent possibility." He added on, giving them an alternative.

"And me?" Ino asked, hesitantly.

"You're not suited for that role, Ino. You've stated yourself that you dislike taijutsu and don't have very good weapon skills. That would leave you and the client extremely vulnerable in that situation. I believe you'd be suited to genjutsu, supplementary ninjutsu, and your clan arts. All fairly useful, but not all that helpful in a protection role." Itachi said, answering her question bluntly but honestly.

Itachi paused as he ran through various scenarios in his head. "More or less, you'll each need a particular branch of skills so you can, as a group, handle any situation. Ino, I think you should first be taught genjutsu and supplementary ninjutsu. You don't have a lot of chakra, but those skills don't have many jutsu that require a lot of chakra. Shino, you should work on your ninjutsu and working in tandem with your Kikaichu. Naruto, work on your bunshinjutsu, taijutsu, and weapon skills. I'll find a taijutsu style that is best for you two to use, and work with you three on developing and improving your soon-to-be areas of expertise." Itachi stood up, looking at the declining sun. "As with yesterday, we should stop for the night. Ino, Shino. Train with your clans tomorrow, they requested it. Naruto, you'll be with me. Come to the Uchiha compound at nine tomorrow."

Having said his peace, Itachi quickly departed in a shunshin.

"Dammit. I meant to ask him something," Naruto said swearing lowly to himself. He had the grace to look a little embarrassed under the twin gaze of his teammates. "Ah. See you two, the day after tomorrow." He said to his teammates, leaving quickly himself, if not quite in a shunshin like his sensei.

* * *

"Yeesh. That was close," Naruto muttered, once he was sure he was out of hearing range of his friends.

"Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll make sure to ask him about my parents." He vowed to himself.


	5. One on One

**Coming from the Shadows: One on One**

Naruto found himself at the Uchiha compound the next morning, his mind keyed to a single question he felt he needed to ask Itachi.

Nodding to the two guards, he said, "Uchiha-san, I believe Itachi-sensei is expecting me."

With a grunt, the guard granted access to the young genin. "You'll find him in his family's dojo, it's a couple doors down from the Military Police Headquarters."

"Thank you, Uchiha-san." Naruto said as he walked through the gates, taking in the scenery of the Uchiha compound. A stark contrast to the rest of Konoha.

* * *

Entering the dojo, Naruto found Itachi sitting in seiza waiting for him.

"Welcome, Naruto." Itachi said, "Let us begin." And with those words he stood up and revealed a scroll hidden within his sleeves.

"For you, Naruto, I believe the Kurage style would fit you best. In tune with your seemingly endless stamina, this style is built upon lessening the damage you receive and countering their attacks."

"Kurage?" Naruto asked, incredulous. "You want me to use a style named after jellyfish?"

With a small smile, Itachi nodded. "Yes. I believe it was named as such due to the intrinsic properties some brands of jellyfish possess, primarily, pseudo-immortality." Standing up, he said, "Attack me. I'll show you the basics of the style I've learned thus far."

Smirking, Naruto was only eager to follow that command. He quickly settled into his mish-mash of a style he picked up from watching others fight. Striking out at Itachi, he felt Itachi push his arm out of the way so his attack missed, before grabbing that arm and pulling him towards him. Off-balance, he could only watch as Itachi forced him down to the ground with his still free hand, his captured arm bent at an uncomfortable angle.

As Itachi released him, Naruto couldn't help but glare at his sensei, not amused at the smirk on his face. "I only know the mere basics of this style, as I got it to teach to you, Naruto. I didn't use the Sharingan to study it, as I wanted to give you a fair sense of what's doable with a short amount of practice." Itachi said, handing him the scroll he previously revealed.

Faster than you could say "Sharingan" the scroll was out of his hands, and being quickly studied upon by Naruto.

"I'll walk you through the basic forms, Naruto. I do have that down. As you might have noticed from the illustrations provided. One must be like water when using that style. Do not predict your opponents actions, only react. For an imprecise prediction is far more deadly than a delayed reaction." Itachi said, garnering Naruto's full attention. "Predicting an opponents action could, if they're skilled enough, have them change they're attack so as to land a far more deadly attack on you."

"Right." Naruto said, blanching at the images in his mind.

"The Kurage style has many forms, and each form is for a different situation. Defending against a strong opponent, defending against a fast opponent, defending against multiple opponents, and many more. Primarily, I'm going to have you focus on defending against multiple opponents for now. As that is more likely to be required in upcoming missions, Naruto. As for the motions, there isn't a true form to it, there are several actions one could take. I'll give you an example." Itachi said, standing up and making a kage bunshin.

His clone threw a straight punch at Itachi, much like Naruto did earlier. Softly, so as to not dispel the clone, Itachi grabbed his clones wrist and angled it. "I could break a wrist," he continued on to pull his clone at him and went through the motions to slam his clone's head against his knee, "break a nose, perhaps even kill them with a strong enough blow," he added on. "I could throw them, break their arm, deflect it and land a punch, capture their arm and doing a sweeping kick to capture them in a different method than I did for you."

Dispelling his clone, he turned back to Naruto. "There are likely many more possibilities, your only limits are your strength, speed, reaction time, and imagination. If you can't think of another possibility, then for you, it doesn't exist. If you don't have the strength to use a method, then for you it doesn't exist. So on, and so forth." Itachi said. "This would be a time when your unpredictability would be a boon for you. In a true fight, not just a spar, as long as my Sharingan wasn't active, you could probably land a few blows on me, despite the difference in our skills."

"Okay." Naruto said, going over it in his mind. "In that case...would it be a good idea for me to create a kage bunshin to learn that while you perhaps work on my speed and strength."

Itachi deliberated over that question for a moment. "How many clones do you have currently active, I know you mentioned yesterday that you tend to have clones training at home more or less twenty-four seven."

"Two." Naruto said, "But I'll dispel one if you agree to this. I can only handle three clones at a time, and I like to have the freedom to use one at a moments notice in case of emergency."

"Do it." Itachi said, creating a clone himself. "First thing we're going to test is your reaction time, Naruto. I hope you brought bandages." He said, taking out a kunai. "No need to run, Naruto. You won't be hurt - not too badly, that is."

* * *

"You are clinically insane, sensei. Absolutely bonkers. A real lunatic. Crazy. You're a madman." Naruto said, covered in dirt and scratches, but nothing too serious.

"Yes, well. I had to figure out how quickly you could react in a life-threatening environment. To have no serious wounds is impressive. I do have one thing to ask before we can continue your training." Itachi said. "What sort of balance do you want between strength and speed? The human body is limited in its ability in muscle structure. While you can use chakra to supplement your speed and strength, nothing stops other shinobi from doing the same, and in that scenario, it just depends on who has the advantage over the other. If you focus entirely on speed, you might be able to easily land blows, but they might not have any strength behind them. And if you focus entirely on strength, you might not have the speed to land those blows."

Biting his lip, Naruto asked, "Given what you knew about my parents, and thus a rough estimation of what my size will be like when I'm done growing, what balance would you suggest sensei?"

"Well, I guess I'd recommend focusing more on speed than strength. Ability to land an attack is a bit more important than damage caused, because even if they minimize the damage they receive, you'll be slowly wearing them down anyways."

"Well, I trust you to know what's best," Naruto said.

"Now there is one last thing to decide before we can continue." Itachi said. "There are three methods available to work on speed without requiring a dedicated training schedule for it. One way is to wear weights. There are some dangers to this if you continue with it, as the weight can cause injury and lessen your agility. Two, use gravity seals. This has similar dangers but not identical to the weights. Whereas weights could lead to damaging your connective tissues, gravity seals can damage your bones, leading to fractures. The last method would be resistance seals. There are a few types you can use, and I believe it's the least dangerous method. Wind resistance, which puts pressure on your body and makes it so that you're always moving against the wind. It's fairly safe until you start to face winds of high intensity. Another type of resistance seal is if you'd be submerged under water. This seal would be used in a way that the supposed water pressure would increase, it has similar dangers as both the weight training and gravity seals."

Naruto just stared at Itachi and asked a simple question. "Why not use them all? Weights that fall just short of causing damage to my...connective tissues, I think you called them. And similar such methods for the other tools." Naruto paused. "Don't forget I'm an Uzumaki, too. I likely have some limited ability to heal myself, so this training style is perhaps less dangerous to me than it would be for others."

Itachi nodded in acknowledgement. "True. We should start you with weights. Those are less available and take the longest to get used to." He said, making another clone. "My clone will get you a set of chakra weights."

Naruto opened his mouth to argue. "No you will not be paying for them, and yes you will accept them. This falls under my duty as your sensei." Itachi said, stopping the argument before it came.

Naruto just grumbled under his breath about "stupid logic."

"Now then, you're to start doing push-ups until your arms start to burn, Naruto." Itachi said, meeting Naruto's eyes with a stern gaze. "Until they start to burn. Not collapse. Burn." He repeated, wanting to make sure his message got across.

Naruto just rolled his eyes and got to work.

* * *

Several hours later, Naruto was resting on his back, looking up at the sky as the stars started to present themselves. "Hey, sensei?" he asked tiredly.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"You said you knew my parents..." Naruto started, pausing.

Itachi nodded, wondering where this was going.

"While I'll probably want to ask you some stories about them. For now, I only want to know one thing. What were they like?"

Itachi nodded knowingly. "Ah. Well, your mother was very fierce and stubborn with a fiery temper. She was called the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. She wasn't extremely well-known in the way your father was, but she was a powerful kunoichi in her own right. She had this verbal tic that she hated, and would be thankful to find out you don't have. I didn't know her quite as well as your father, though. He was a very charismatic individual and always kept his cool. He was very respectful, always calling others with a proper honorific." He paused here. "I'm not quite sure if you possess this trait or not." He added amused.

Silence descended upon the pair as Itachi was finished.

"Thank you, sensei." Naruto said softly. Getting up he said, "I guess I should head home now. Again, thank you."

"One last thing. Don't sleep with weights on, that can cause all sorts of health issues."

"Alright, sensei. See you tomorrow."


	6. Leaving the Chores Behind

**Coming from the Shadows: Leaving the Chores Behind**

It has been a month since they graduated. A month since they became a team and forged a bond built through blood, sweat, and tears. A month filled with training by, in their very unbiased opinion, the most insane Jounin-sensei in Konoha. Uchiha Itachi.

"Sensei, can we go on a C-Rank now, we should have the skills for it." Naruto asked, seemingly to the air as Itachi wasn't in the area. Or so a casual observer would have though, as Itachi walked out of the shadows.

"Perhaps." Itachi said. "It depends on what is available."

Smiling, as they restrained the temptation to cheer at his answer. The three quickly leapt to the ground with such ease that showed much dedication and practice, not something one would expect from a genin only recently out of the academy.

"Lead on. Sensei." Ino said, with an amused inflection in her voice.

Rolling his eyes, Itachi just turned and left, knowing his genin would be able to keep up with his sub-shunshin speeds.

* * *

Arriving at the Mission Assignment Desk, Itachi said, "Team Seven, reporting for duty, Hokage-sama. My team requests a C-Rank, and I believe them to be ready for it."

Raising an eyebrow, the Hokage nodded wordlessly - and knowingly, and pull out a mission scroll. "Escort mission to wave - Tazuna, a bridge builder, comes to Konoha to request protection."

Itachi shook his head, as his instinct virtually screamed danger. "No, that will not do. Not at all. I suggest you don't give that to any genin teams, Hokage-sama. My instincts are rarely wrong, and they scream danger about that one. That should properly be considered B-Rank or A-Rank if my suspicions are correct."

Frowning, the Hokage made a note on the scroll before setting it aside. "If not that one, how about this one?" He said, before grabbing another scroll. "Another escort mission. This time, however, a young lady requests protection from bandits as she makes a trek to the ruins of the great village once known as Uzushiogakure. Expect a long trip lasting around three weeks barring any severe complications."

Nodding in consent, Itachi took the scroll. "Team Seven accepts this mission and will see it through to completion."

"You will find your client at the Meirusutorōmu hotel. Dismissed."

Taking their leave, Itachi glanced through the mission details as they headed towards their client's location.

* * *

Entering their hotel, Itachi went up to the receptionist and asked, "Where may we find Uzu-san, we have a mission involved with her, receptionist-san."

Glancing up at their foreheads, as if to confirm their claim as shinobi, he said, "You may find Uzu-sama in room 309. Here is the key, please return it before you leave." He said, handing them a silver key with the room number affixed to it.

"Treat this as one of my tests, Shino, Naruto, Ino." Itachi said, "We are going on a potentially life-threatening mission for the first time, and we have to go meet our client. What steps should be taken before we arrive?"

He gestured to Ino first, well aware that usually Naruto and Shino go first. "As we don't have time to do a background check on the lady, perhaps Shino should send a couple Kikaichu in the room before we enter to get a feel for the woman?" Ino said, hesitantly as she worked through it.

Not answering, he then turned to Shino and waited. "Outside of the potential possibility of employing my Kikaichu allies, we additionally have the option of having a clone do some basic surveillance as there are some limitations as to what the Kikaichu can relay back to me."

Itachi, again, silently moved on and waited for Naruto to continue. "Outside of basic surveillance, we should make sure we are also prepared in case something unforeseen happens. Whether we have our weapons available and ready for combat. Basic medical supplies, rations, perhaps even emergency soldier pills."

Pausing, Naruto muttered, "Even if they are obscenely expensive."

Continuing, he added, "We should also make sure we have appropriate attire for a mission. No fluttery clothes, hair up so it isn't within easy reach of enemies and couldn't use it to their advantage. Dark clothes so we can blend in with our surroundings."

Frowning as he couldn't think of anything, Naruto said, "Did we miss anything, sensei?"

Wordlessly, Itachi shook his head no. "You have learned your lessons well, the three of you. Now follow those suggestions. Wouldn't make do to have the knowledge to take proper precautions but not act upon them."

Nodding, the three went through the steps to make sure the three of them were properly prepared.

* * *

Standing in front of room 309, Itachi knocked on the door. They waited a few moments, as a few soft sounds were made in the room. The door opened, to reveal their client, Uzu Senkai in a dark brown dress with a complementing green jacket through over her shoulders. "Yes?" She asked.

"Uzu-san. We are Team Seven, and we've accepted your mission to protect you on your way to Uzushiogakure." Itachi said, then gestured to his students. "These are my genin, Aburame Shino, Yamanaka Ino, and Naruto. I am their Jounin-sensei, Uchiha Itachi."

Uzu Senkai frowned lightly as she took in the three genin before her. One of them had no last name and with his flaming red hair...she shook her head. Couldn't be, just a coincidence as he lacked the traditional violet eyes of the Uzumaki clan. "It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Uzu Senkai. I look forward to working with you all." she said politely.

They just nodded her head in turn, while Naruto could barely restrain himself from showing his thoughts. She looked like an Uzumaki! And with that name...

He shook his head, no time to get distracted.

"Uzu-san, my team still has some preparations to undergo, as I expect you do, yourself. We'll be leaving in two hours, be at the gate then." Itachi said, as he turned to leave.

Biting her lip, she opened her mouth as if to ask something and changed her mind. "I'll be there."

* * *

Naruto arrived home, after the team split to make their own precautions.

He dispelled his clones as it wouldn't do to have his mind split on several unrelated actions while away on a mission.

Gathering up his needed supplies, using his self-taught fūinjutsu, he sealed them away into a few key locations so as to have a few access points. Taking out his weapons, he went and prepared each of them, hoping he wouldn't need to make use of all his preparations.

With a soft sigh, he got to work, he had a long day ahead of him.

* * *

Arriving at the gate mere seconds before the two hour deadline was up, he found his team - and additionally their client - waiting for him. "Don't forget your training, you three. This will be the first time you may be required to make use of it."j

They nodded and without a word, the five of them departed Konoha.

As soon as they were far enough away from Konoha, Naruto couldn't resist the temptation any longer. "So, Uzu-san. When were you going to tell us you were an Uzumaki?" Naruto asked, split between pleasure at seeing a living, breathing Uzumaki besides himself, and displeasure that she hid it. His two teammates let out soft gasps in surprise, they didn't think any Uzumaki had survived.

Hiding a grimace, she asked, "And what makes you think I am one?"

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto said, "Listen lady, if there is one thing I hate, it's those that lie to their family."

Raising her eyebrow, Senkai merely asked, "Oh?"

Blanching with a grimace, he realized what he had inadvertently revealed. Seeing no way out of this, Naruto sighed. "Ino, Shino, I ask you not to reveal a word of this to anyone. Please. I ask this of you as my friends."

Gaining two nods, he turned to their client. "I ask the same to you as my family, as it seems." Garnering a soft smile from her, she nodded her head, as well.

"I'm an Uzumaki. I go with no surname because to take one up - one that wouldn't sully my parents would be to call upon their enemies as the Uzumaki were a greatly feared clan - as can be attested for by the fact the Uzushiogakure, home of the Uzumaki, was destroyed during the war by a contingent made up of Kiri, Kumo, and Iwa Shinobi. Few things require a concerted effort made up of three of the great hidden villages in order to destroy it. Uzushio was one of the few."

With a slightly angered visage, he said, "Your turn, lady."

"I'm also an Uzumaki - though I lack the ability to mold chakra, my real name isn't Uzu Senkai, but Uzumaki Nagare. But like with Naruto here, please continue to refer to me as Uzu Senkai. As much for my protection as for his. A single discovered survivor of the Uzumaki clan will bring about a fierce hunt by those that wiped out Uzushiogakure."

With an over-exaggerated bow, Naruto mockingly said, "Of course, Senkai-sama."

Giving Naruto a fierce glare, Senkai merely strode forward purposefully.

Meeting his teammates eyes, Naruto grinned mischievously. She was going to be so fun to tease.


	7. Childhood

**Coming from the Shadows: Childhood**

Naruto and his four companions began to carve their path throughout history with each step they took on the journey to Uzushiogakure.

"Oh, wonderful and benevolent Senkai-sama. Would you be willing to grant us poor souls knowledge upon the reason for you upcoming visit to the lands of our forefathers?" Naruto said, eyes twinkling with mischief.

Gritting her teeth, Senkai said, "Very well. I want to find my ancestry. I was raised by my mother alone, but I would like to discover my relation to the Uzumaki. Direct descendant? Branch family? I don't care too much about who I'm descended directly from, I merely wish to find my roots. Something like a family tree would be ideal. Finding pictures, portraits, and the like would be wonderful as well."

With a small smile, Naruto gave Senkai an exaggerated bow, "You are so kind and charitable, Senkai-sama."

Ignoring Senkai's sign of annoyance - a twitching eyebrow, Naruto turned his attention to the roads and surroundings. He was on a mission after all, wouldn't do to be caught off-guard.

"Uzu-san," Itachi began, "it doesn't say in the mission details, but I find it prudent to ask. Do you expect to be attacked on your journey?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm just aware of two facts. One, the area around Uzushiogakure is somewhat of a hotspot for bandits. Additionally, a lone traveler, especially a female, has an increased risk for being targeted by bandits. I hope that the presence of shinobi alone is enough to deter bandits from attacking."

Itachi nodded his head. "I suspected as much, but it doesn't hurt to be too careful."

"Sensei," Shino spoke up. "There are groups of bandits in the trees neighboring our route. What course of action would you recommend we take?"

"Place a few of your Kikaichu on the bandits in case they do decide to attack. Our mission is to protect our client, and she'd be more at risk if even one of us left to take care of the bandits."

With an understanding nod, Shino said, "Already did so, sensei. You did teach us, quite insistently I may add, about the benefits of preparations."

Itachi just nodded. "Now all that's left is to see if they take action or not."

* * *

As the hours passed, there was no sign of the bandits attacking. "It's a good time to set up camp," Itachi said. "I know where a clearing is nearby so follow me. We're going to jump through the trees, so Naruto, make a clone and have it take Senkai, you're the one drilled into the role of protector on the team."

Nodding, Naruto did just that, his hands going into a now-familiar hand seal. With a puff of smoke, and a twin of Naruto appeared. Both Naruto's turned to Senkai and with an overwrought bow, they said together, "Senkai-sama, your personal escort is here," before turning to each other and grinning cheekily.

Before she could protest, the Naruto clone grabbed Senkai in princess style, as if such a carry befitted her exaggerated stature.

And as one, the five-turned-six quickly leapt off the ground and sped through the trees. To Senkai's untrained eyes, the surrounding nature was a blur to her as they swiftly approached the destination.

Landing in the clearing, Itachi said, "Shino collect firewood and make a fire, Ino collect some water, there is a river not far south of here. Keep an eye on your surroundings though. Naruto create two more clones and have the three of them protect Senkai while you set up tents for us. I'll bring back some food for us."

Without another word, Naruto's three teammates departed leaving him to his part. "Senkai-sama, it would be wonderful if you would be an amenable client and move towards the center of the clearing."

Rolling her eyes, she followed his indirect instructions and found herself surrounded by Naruto triplets.

Naruto swiftly set up camp, knowing just how to create a pit for the fire, and giving the three tents a proper location.

Ino was the first to return, as she had the simplest task. Setting down her burden, Ino looked around their temporary campsite and nodded in approval.

Shino returned next with an armful of suitable wood for campfires. He swiftly headed over to the fire pit Naruto made and began making a fire.

Itachi was the last return, with a rabbit in each hand. "Well done, all of you. Shino, what's the location of the bandits?"

Shino frowned. "They seem to be en route, mostly east of our location. Possible end location would be Uzushiogakure itself."

Itachi's frown met Shino's. "Was afraid of that. Looks like our trip will have some bloodshed after all."

"It's fine, sensei. Had to happen eventually. Perhaps better for it to be bandits than enemy ninja, no?" Naruto said, unaware of taboo of those very words.

Ino groaned. "You just had to say that, didn't you, Naruto?"

"Say what?" Naruto said, curious and more than a little confused.

She just ignored him as she took her place by the fire.

Naruto just looked at her oddly then shook his head. "I'll never understand girls." he muttered. Directing his clones, they went into the treeline to create a makeshift perimeter around the group.

Gesturing for Senkai to join them at the fire now, the five companions found themselves enjoying the warmth as Itachi prepared their dinner.

Softly, almost nervously, Naruto asked, "What was your childhood like, Senkai?"

A gentle, almost kind smile alighted on her face. "It was warm. My mother did what she could to provide for me without sacrificing time spent with each other. We had a small, cozy little home where we made due. It's outside of Konoha. There was this lovely little pond in the forest near our house and we'd spend hours together next to it. Each and every day she made sure to tell me she loved me. I think she was afraid she'd pass away without warning as my father did."

She frowned lightly and said, "I'm not sure why, she never told me. But it seems she had some reason to fear it. She passed away three years ago. There was no sign of it. She appeared completely healthy. Never disappeared for hours at a time or anything."

Giving Senkai a sad smile, Naruto approached her and hugged her, giving her much-needed comfort. "Thank you, Naruto. Thank you." She whispered into his shoulder, a few tears leaking through.

"Anytime, dear cousin." Naruto said, brushing a tear from her eyes with thumb. "We're family."

Gathering up her courage, she asked, "What was your childhood like, Naruto?"

He grimaced. "It was dark. I was always alone. I grew up by myself - for some reason, the orphanage wasn't allowed to take care of me. Whenever I went to the park, children, parents, everyone would pass by me as if I wasn't there, yet if I approached someone I was noticed. I wasn't treated with scorn or anything. But, it was lonely." He said, voice creaking. "Even at the Academy I was passed over, there were days when my sensei passed me over, as if I wasn't there. I had to excel to be noticed."

"Whenever I came home, the place dark and quiet. There was no warmth to the place. With what little funds I did have, I couldn't spare anything on personal possessions, and no one would employ a little kid to do work, so I couldn't earn any money either. To this day, outside of ninja gear, I haven't been able to get any personal possessions or anything to try to warm up the place."

"I'm told my parents were killed in the attack that took the life of our previous Hokage, Namikaze Minato. I've been told who my parents are, and what they were like, but nothing beyond that."

Letting out a shaky breath, he said, "But it's alright. I've got friends now, family now. A more reliable income. It's different now." He gave them a smile that, despite his words, was haunted with loneliness.

An uncomfortable silence filled the clearing after his words, the only sounds being the crackling of the fire as the wood shifted and burned.

Ino shakily stood up and stood directly in front of Naruto. "You will never have to feel the pain of loneliness again Naruto, this I swear." Ino said, shaken by the depths of his emotion.

Shino spoke up. "The Aburame also harbor some of the pains of loneliness, due to how much of Konoha views us. But Naruto, no one should have had to suffer it as you did. I am ashamed that my inaction lead to that. As with Ino, I swear to you I will never abandon you."

"Thank you. Really. Thank you." Naruto said, touched by their actions.

Not exactly displeased he had the means to dispel the dark mood, Itachi said, "The food is ready."

And with that the mood changed drastically as the other four members of their little group realized just how hungry they were.

The mood lifted, the five companions ate, talked, and laughed throughout their meal.

As the last member put down their cutlery, Itachi spoke up. "Uzu-san will take the tent closest to the road and will share it with Ino. Naruto and Shino will take the tent next to theirs. And I'll take the last tent. As for the night watch, Naruto, take first shift as your stamina is the highest in our group. I'll take the middle shift, and Shino you take the last."

Ino frowned, and opened her mouth as if to argue. "Ino, there are only three shifts. You aren't being treated as a girl, or some delicate object right now. You are a shinobi. You will have shifts on other days. All four of us will have days when we don't have a single shift. Yours just happens to be today." Itachi said, cutting her off.

She nodded in understanding. She wasn't some delicate little wallflower that needed to be protected and kept from harm. She was a kunoichi.

They started to head off to bed before Itachi spoke up once more. "And Naruto. Dispel those clones after your shift has ended. I won't have your sleep degraded thanks to them."

Naruto sighed, but nodded all the same. And with those words Naruto's companions headed to their respective tents, ready to get some shut-eye.

Naruto took up vigil and sat silently, listening for the slightest sound, the barest movement in his surroundings. He had a long night ahead of him.


	8. Entering Uzushiogakure

**Coming from the Shadows: Entering Uzushiogakure**

"So, how much further do we have to go, anyway?" Naruto asked, as their seventh day drew to a close.

"We'll likely arrive tomorrow," Itachi said slowly, thinking about the potential upcoming battle.

Smiling, Naruto made a mental cheer as the five traveling companions waited for their food to finish stewing.

"There are presumably a great deal of bandits in Uzushiogakure," Shino said. "The Kikaichu I planted on the bandits we passed on the trail all seem to be located within Uzushiogakure itself. We'll need to exercise a great deal of caution. It would be rather precarious for us to enter Uzushiogakure without any plans or escape routes. We may be shinobi, but even the mighty can fall to the weak under the right circumstances."

Nodding, Naruto agreed with his well-spoken teammate. "For battle-style plans we could stick to our protection set-up. But as for escape routes...hm..."

The three genin were silent for several minutes as they tried to think of possible methods to escape. Ino let out a sigh. "I've got almost nothing. We could fight our way out or rely on sensei, but I think he'd want us to try and develop a proper plan to escape ourselves."

Naruto and Shino nodded, as they had more or less come up with the same conclusions. "Sensei, going though what we know, we can't seem to create a possible escape route that doesn't put our client in danger or rely on you. So, I guess for this mission at least, we'll need to rely on you. And when we get back, we'll need to learn more diverse skills so this potential situation we have on our hands won't be out of our reach anymore."

Itachi nodded. "This mission was worthwhile then. Outside of the unexpected circumstances surrounding Uzu-san and Naruto, I had hoped that you'd be placed in this situation so you'd learn that a group of specialists isn't as powerful as a group of all-rounders." Looking over at Naruto, he added, "We'll be leaving this campsite as is for now, it'll be our base of operations as the expected size of the bandits is not something we can deal with in one night. During that time, I don't want you to have your weights or training seals on. You'll need every advantage you can get. I won't have you risk yourself during a low-risk enterprise just to gain some slight improvement."

"Alright, sensei." Naruto said, removing his seals and gently placing his weights on the ground.

"And with that, dinner is ready." Itachi said, and his four companions hurriedly got some food. He smiled at the scene in front of him. Before he got his team, he wouldn't expect to see a once-stoic Aburame engaging with laughter and joviality, nor would he expected a person like Ino to be at ease with an Aburame. It was nice to see how close they've grown. He could only hope his instincts were wrong, as they had recently began to scream danger - thus the real reason he had Naruto lose his training tools.

He sighed, and got himself some food. He'd need it for the upcoming excursion in Uzushiogakure.

* * *

One well-rested Shinobi - silent Shino, joined his teammates as they rose shortly before dawn. "As discussed, leave any unexpected elements to me and if necessary, I'll provide the escape route in case it's necessary." Itachi said to his genin. "We should enter Uzushiogakure within an hour, stay alert."

His three genin nodded before taking their positions. Shino at the forefront, Ino in the middle, and Naruto in the rear, with two clones flanking Senkai.

Silently, they made their way into the ruins of Uzushiogakure.

They didn't make much progress before they encountered resistance. A lone figure stood before them, with a cold smile on his face. His cold, icy-blue eyes pierced them as he evaluated the group. Letting out a low laugh, he said, "Wonderful. Fresh genin. It's been a while since I had a feast like this." Above his ice-cold eyes was a hitai-ate, denoting him as a missing-nin from Kumogakure.

At his words, bandits seemed to pop up from every nook and cranny.

Ino turned to Naruto and said, "And this is why you don't say things along the lines of 'What could go wrong?'"

Naruto just smiled at her with a sheepish expression. "Well, I guess this is another one of those lessons learned things."

Itachi left the group and went straight to the ninja. "I'll handle Saishu here, he's a B-Rank Ninja. Take care of the bandits and protect Uzu-san."

Saishu narrowed his eyes at Itachi. "'Handle me?' he says. I was going to be merciful and let one of the genin survive, but not anymore. Kill them."

* * *

From the rear, Naruto had the best view of the situation. Whipping out two kunai, he quickly threw them and dispatched two of the bandits. "Stay calm! Ino, Shino. Genin are allowed to take C-Rank missions, don't forget. Bandits are not an unexpected development on them, so we are trusted by our village to be able to handle bandits."

Nodding at his friend's words, Shino raised his arms up and a swarm of Kikaichu were released and set upon a great deal of the bandits. Not wanting to be outdone by her friends, Ino ran through a couple handseals, and sent a widespread genjutsu through the bandits - at the cost of a great deal of her chakra.

Screams filtered the air as bandits fell to three things, illusion, flesh eating parasites, and the occasional kunai and shuriken.

Taking deep breaths to center herself, she looked at her teammates and smiled at them.

"Best to stay on guard," Shino said. "Sensei's fight isn't over yet, and we don't know Saishu's abilities.

Nodding, they tensed and kept watch on their surroundings.

* * *

Smiling at the screams, Itachi said, "Seems like your little bandits weren't able to amount to much, were they?"

Growling, the man charged Itachi with a tantō. "Die!" he said, as he slashed Itachi with a lightning-charged strike. He smiled. "And so the great Uchiha Itachi falls."

Itachi stood up holding his left arm as a stream of blood ran down his shoulder. "I don't need more than a single arm to deal with the likes of you, Saishu-chan." Itachi said, mocking the ninja.

Jumping back, Saishu ran through a few handseals before crying out "Lightning Release: Thunder Current." A wave of lightning flooded the area and Itachi found himself unable to dodge and took on the full burden of a hundred thousand volts. As the jutsu was released, Itachi fell to the ground.

Saishu began to laugh once more, a dark, cruel laughter befitting of his status.

Shakily, Itachi stood once more, refusing to back down. Breathing heavily, Itachi said, "I won't fall that easily."

Saishu just shook his head and ran through more hand seals. He smiled coldly at Itachi. "No matter what you do, you're going to die." he said, charging Itachi once more.

In his cold rage, he never noticed the confident expression on Itachi's face.

* * *

Having heard nor seen any sign of approaching bandits, the three genin relaxed their guards a little. "Let's leave Saishu to sensei and continue on with our mission." Naruto said, "Either there aren't as many bandits as Itachi suspected, they fled after the initial attack, or they're waiting. No matter the option, the best course of option seems to be continuing with our mission."

Getting two nods of agreement, Naruto said, "This way, Senkai." And with that the three genin and client slowly made their way through the ruins of Uzushiogakure.

Coming across a fallen buidling, their client spoke up. "Perhaps in here?" she said, subtly reminding them that she was searching for proof of her heritage.

"Right, then. Shino, if you would?" Naruto said, gesturing to the Aburame. Nodding, Shino sent a few Kikaichu into the building as preliminary surveillance.

A few tense moments later they returned and Shino said, "The building seems to be clear. No signs of humans were found."

"Alright, let's head inside. But carefully. Don't know if it may collapse so stick close."

Getting a couple affirmatives, the three genin carefully entered the building and were amazed at what they saw. Despite the presence of bandits and even a missing-nin, this building, at least, showed no signs of being looted. It appeared to have been a home to one of the Uzumaki shinobi, if the scrolls they found were any indication. Despite Naruto knowing more of the obscure art of fuinjutsu than most Konoha shinobi could profess, the scroll's purpose remained out of his grasp - a clear sign of an extremely skilled practitioner.

Taking the scrolls as he, as one of the few living Uzumaki, had fair right to claim, sealed them into one of his spare scrolls and said, "Let's continue. What we're searching for doesn't appear to be in this room."

Leading them, they searched the rest of the house, room by room, but nothing else of any import was found. Just personal possessions of those that had lived there.

They left the building and continued their search. They came across a few more buildings and they left them with more and more questions. None of the buildings showed signs of being looted or even searched. It's as if no one was able to enter the buildings.

Finally, they came across a much more regal building that the ones that had entered. "This is probably our best bet for what you're looking for, Senkai-san." Shino said, as he let loose a few of his Kikaichu. Despite the implications the other buildings rose, it never hurt to be prepared.

Receiving the all-clear, they entered the final building, and much like its predecessors, it remained intact with no signs of looting.

Naruto took in the sights, as there were basic sealing scrolls covering just about everything, he said, "This may take a while..."

* * *

Itachi just stared at Saishu, surprised that as a B-Rank shinobi he was still stuck in the genjutsu. "Well, I didn't really expect a shinobi of his caliber to die this easily," he muttered as he walked up to the immobile shinobi and pierced him with his tantō. Sealing the man within a scroll, Itachi headed through the village, to rendezvous up with his team.

He quickly found himself in the center of the village staring at, quite frankly, the largest dwelling he's seen. It dwarfed even those of the Uchiha and Hyuuga compounds. Composing himself, he made way to enter the building but found himself unable to.

He frowned. His team was inside, so why wasn't he able to enter...

Activating his sharingan, he quickly found the reason. A subtle seal placed upon the entryway barred entrance to all who were lacking an Uzumaki to guide them. "Fascinating," he muttered. 'Perhaps I could emulate a similar seal back home,' he mused.

Shaking his head, he said, "Well, I might as well wait here. Can't do anything about it."

He was in for a long wait.


	9. Trust in the Uzumaki

**Coming from the Shadows: Trust in the Uzumaki**

"Alright. Ino, Shino. Either of you able to read basic sealing?" Naruto asked, wanting to get started as there was a lot of work to do.

They shook their heads, signifying that no, they didn't posses the skills to do such.

He frowned. "Hm. In that case, there isn't really a whole lot you can do and it's not a skill one can quickly learn. Since I seem to be the only one of us who can safely navigate these scrolls, you two should stick close to Senkai. I'll need all my attention on these scrolls which isn't something I can do while guarding someone. Some of these scrolls could turn out to be traps, and I'd rather not find out the hard way that they were." Naruto turned his gaze to the wall in front of him, which was littered with seals, hardly an inch of space existed without some seal covering it.

Frustrated at their inability to help with this task, Ino and Shino silently complied. They took up position at their client's flanks, making sure to keep her protected at all times.

Naruto examined one of the seals in front of him. A fairly basic one. Seems that kitchen utensils was sealed into that one. Frowning he moved on, next he found food. Furniture. Writing Supplies. Books. Games. He groaned. At this rate they were never going to finish. Putting his hands into a familar ram seal, he created three kage bunshin so as to speed up the process.

Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hours. And finally as the long day stretched into night did Naruto finish the entry hall. "Ugh." He groaned. "Found enough basic necessities for living to support a village three times the size of Konoha, yet not a single piece of history, no pictures, no ninja tools, nothing whatsoever that would help us in our task or help us as a ninja."

Turning to his teammates, he said, "We should find sensei and head back to the campsite. I don't think it'd be wise to stay in Uzushiogakure during the night."

They jumped slightly at his voice. their nerves frayed from having been on guard without break for over half a day.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We should that. Yeah." Ino said, mentally fried from her unrelenting task requiring an unrelaxed guard.

They left the building and immediately bumped into Itachi. Literally. As Naruto knocked their sensei down. "Um. Whoops?" Naruto said, unable to resist a smile at the idea that their sensei was caught off-guard. Something they have never seen even once before.

"Sensei, what were you doing out here?" Naruto asked. "We could have used your help in there. I know that you possess some skills in the obscure branch of fūinjutsu."

Instead of answering, Itachi merely directed Naruto to the seal he found. Naruto looked at it, and frowned. "This is still a bit advanced for me, sensei. I can't quite read it."

Mildly surprised that he overestimated Naruto's skills in fūinjutsu Itachi said, "It's a rather interesting seal. It prevents those that aren't being guided by an Uzumaki from entering the dwelling. From what I've seen the vast majority of the buildings in the village have this seal upon the doorways."

"Fascinating..." Naruto muttered. "It's not a blood seal as it doesn't require any bodily fluids to activate. Chakra detector maybe? But, no, that wouldn't quite work, or sensei, would have been able to enter as I recently crossed the threshold. Hm..." Naruto mused, off in his own little world.

Itachi smiled as his focused student. "Perhaps we should head back to our camp, Naruto?" Itachi said, interrupting Naruto's frenzied thoughts.

"Right, the camp." He said, as he forced himself to put aside those thoughts for now. "Ino and Shino deserve a full sleep tonight." Naruto said, "They were on full-alert for half they day in my place as I was the only one able to read the seals that were in the building."

"Alright." Itachi said, nodding slowly. "We can do that, let's head back to the camp now, however."

With that, he leapt away, leaving it to his students to follow him with Senkai in tow.

* * *

After a quiet meal, Itachi spoke up. "Ino, Shino. I was informed of your actions today, and I have to say that neither of you are fit for the night watch this night."

"Sensei!" Naruto interrupted, appalled at his words. "They need a full night's rest, yes. But that...that..." Naruto stopped as he couldn't seem to put his thoughts into words.

"While, yes, I am pleased that they took into consideration the seriousness of the situation and didn't give any potential enemies an opening, the truth nevertheless remains that they are currently unfit for the night watch considering the nerves are frayed, their minds spent."

His two teammates just silently went to their respective tents, their minds too spent to even work up the energy to get angry at their sensei.

"I'll take first watch, Naruto." Itachi said, "Head to bed, too."

Naruto complied, but said one parting piece before entering the tent. "This conversation isn't over, sensei."

Itachi frowned at his words and settled into a position that would calm his mind and keep his thoughts centered so as to more be able to keep his senses on the surroundings.

* * *

As they all woke up, Itachi said, "Let's put our supplies away. With the seals in place, the Uzumaki dwelling may be much safer for us. But we'll have to take care to not trigger any traps, and detect if there are any other openings through which enemies could enter, such as other doors or windows."

They nodded, and swiftly put away their camping supplies, sealing them into scrolls.

They quickly left the clearing and headed back into Uzushiogakure.

"Be aware of your surroundings. There may be more bandits." Itachi said. "If all goes well, there will be no interference on the way to the building."

The three genin quickly complied and, as one, the group sped up some more. They quickly found themselves in the Uzumaki dwelling with no opposition in sight.

"Alright, so seeing as how only sensei and I are able to read, the two of you, more or less will have the same job as yesterday. However, sensei and I will first check all the entrances for the seal that helps keep this place safe. If all goes well, you two will soon be able to relax your guard somewhat." Naruto said, directing the team.

His three teammates complied, and swiftly they got to work. It was a long and slow process, and the two fūinjutsu users had to check for triggers and traps as they went, knowing that despite their protection seals, the Uzumaki clan was nothing if not paranoid. A sign of their paranoia would be the fact that despite the efforts of three great nations some Uzumaki still exist today. The hours passed and the sun began to shine brightly through the windows when finally they checked the last entrance they could find.

"Alright," Naruto said, informing his team. "All clear it seems. All the entrances seem to be protected by that seal, but there may be more traps we're unaware of. So while sensei and I go through the bedrooms, you three will have to stay in the entryway as it's already been cleared."

Naruto took the closest room to the entryway while Itachi checked the halls. It wouldn't do for them to head to the room and accidentally trigger a trap. And so, they got to work. Naruto clearing the rooms with Itachi clearing the corridors.

Progress was slow, but shortly before night fell, the two met the needed requirements to make the Uzumaki building a safe haven for them to rest for the night. Three bedrooms. One bathroom. One kitchen, and corridors connecting them all. Looking at the boys on her team, she walked over to the bathroom. "I really need a shower now, it's been too long." Leveling them with a glare, she said, "And don't you dare try to cut my shower short."

With that said, she entered the bathroom for a blissful evening of cleanliness.

Naruto and Shino just shared a look before shuddering. It simply conveyed a single statement. Girls are scary.

* * *

A much more extravagant dinner awaited them that night as Senkai showed them her appreciation by cooking them a delicious meal using the Uzumaki resources at hand. She laid out a well-cooked centerpiece of Tonkatsu with a few side dishes, including a complement of Chāhan, some well-seasoned Yakitori, and a helping of Daikon to even it all out.

She gave a pleased smile at her escorts as one could almost literally see their desire to dig in. "Don't stand on ceremony," she said. "Help yourselves."

As if they were waiting for a signal, the four shinobi leapt as one and a once peaceful affair for them became something of a war. In between bites, Naruto said, "You're officially declared the official chef of our group for the duration of the mission.

"For a simple meal such as this," she said, teasingly, "I'm astonished."

Naruto just rolled his eyes and returned his attention to the feast he was in the process of devouring.

The four shinobi ate well into the night before resting comfortably, and for once, there was no night watch as they trusted in the Uzumaki seals.


	10. Failure in Success

**A/N: **Sorry it was so late, had trouble starting this chapter off.

**Coming from the Shadows: Failure in Success**

Naruto woke at his usual time, a bit before the sun peaked its head over the horizon. Stretching, he got out of the borrowed bed and decided to get to work alone. Before he left the room, he made a quick kage bunshin for twin awareness.

Leaving his clone in his room, he quickly strode through the corridors. Reaching the stairs, he decided to head up, as there had been no signs of anything related to the Uzumaki heritage or ninja activity on the first floor.

He took his time carefully, step-by-step, as he made his way up the stairs, amazed to see seals even covering the steps and rails. Frowning, he touched the seals lightly and sent in a little chakra, almost as if guided by an unseen hand.

He felt the seal respond to him, and it began to resonate with his own. Spiraling within him befitting the Uzumaki name, the chakra the seal released within him centralized and spread evenly within him.

Feeling a noticeable increase in his available chakra, Naruto paused in his ruminations. Glancing back at the seal his fingers were rested on, his eyes widened in shock.

It was gone.

With a gaping expression, Naruto was frozen in his movements for a few moments. Shaking his head slowly, he cleared his thoughts. It wasn't something he could solve currently with his current ability in chakra control and his inability to see the seal that inserted that chakra.

Continuing, he cleared the stairway with no other surprises in store.

He entered the first room on the right and had one thought. 'Now we're going somewhere.' The room was filled with books. Not scrolls or seals. But books. There was bound to be some details on their heritage here.

He smiled. Letting everyone else get the entirety of their rest, Naruto left the room alone and went off in search of other potential leads on the upper floor.

He had only just left the room filled with books when he was informed of his companions waking up due to the connection he shared with his clone.

Heading downstairs, he greeted his team. "Good morning, Itachi, Ino, Shino. Senkai still sleeping?"

Ino nodded. "Yeah. She's a pretty heavy sleeper." She said. Staring at Naruto she continued. "You look happy. Find something?"

Smile widening, Naruto said. "Yeah. It looks good. Went up to the second floor and there was a room absolutely filled with books. There is likely to be something helpful among them. Although, it does make the Academy library look small in comparison, so there is a lot to look through."

Turning to their sensei, Naruto continued. "I skipped the rest of the first floor, I felt it was likely none of what we needed would be found on the first floor, as everything we looked through had stuff to do with day-to-day necessities."

Itachi nodded and said, "Continue with what you were doing, Naruto. I'll finish up down here. Ino you stick next to Senkai while she's still asleep, and after she wakes up, guide her to the kitchen. Shino, seeing as how Uzu-san is still sleeping, you'll be cooking up a light breakfast for us all."

Shino nodded and left to make preparations.

"Alright, see you guys in an hour or so." Naruto said, as he bounded back up the stairs.

* * *

An hour later, four alert shinobi and one drowsy civilian were in the kitchen staring at their breakfast. Naruto looked back and forth between the food and Shino a few times before giving his teammate a pitying look.

"Shino," he began, consolingly, "be thankful that you're a talented shinobi. You won't be able to fall back onto your cooking skills."

Shino narrowed his eyes at his red-headed teammate. "Oh? And you're saying you can cook, Naruto?" Shino said challengingly.

Naruto just smiled, before turning to the others. "If you three don't mind, I think I just got nominated for tonight's chef."

Itachi chuckled at his genin's antics. "Certainly. That's acceptable, Naruto." He then gave him a hard stare. "But I would like to have a proper meal today, if you would..."

Naruto just put a hand over his heart and pretended to wipe away a tear as if hurt. "You wound me so, sensei. No trust in your little student."

Humor out of the way, Naruto reached into his kunai holster and pulled out a ration bar. Noticing their incredulous gazes he said, "Hey. These are veritable weapons, you know. Even more deadly than kunai to an unprepared shinobi." Grimacing, he added on, "And seeing as how we won't be having a proper breakfast, we need to get some nutrients into our body, anyways."

Itachi nodded. "Yeah, that's a smart idea. The Uzumaki seals in place around this house might be strong, but they aren't flawless. Otherwise Uzushiogakure would never have fallen in the first place."

Grimacing, they all finished their ration bars reluctantly. Speaking up once more, Itachi said. "Ino, Shino. Follow Naruto upstairs. You two can peruse the archives Naruto has found for proof upon Uzu-san's heritage."

As one, they left Itachi downstairs and headed upstairs to the archives.

Pointing out the door, Naruto said, "It's in there. I've got more to do on this floor, so I'll leave you to it."

As they entered the room, Naruto continued down the hall. There had to be some scrolls to be found detailing the ins and outs of fūinjutsu.

* * *

A disappointed Naruto returned to his teammates hours later, the entire upper floor having been searched. A no special scroll upon the ins and outs of fūinjutsu was to be found. Sighing, he turned to his teammates and asked, "How's the search going, any luck?"

Leaving Shino to continue the search, Ino said, "We haven't found much for the intended purpose. But we've begun sorting the books into three categories." Ino gestured to the stacks of books behind her.

"First," she began, gesturing to the tallest stack, "books that are more or less useless for us. They don't detail fūinjutsu practices, history, or anything that could be of much help for us."

"Next," she continued, pointing to the next stack, holding only about a dozen books - Oddly, sorted by color. "we have books that detail jutsu: the ins, outs, and in-betweens of each skill."

"Finally," she finished, pointing at the last stack, containing a single book. "We found something of interest. The diary of Uzumaki Mito. While some of it isn't exactly relevant, she's mentioned as the first jinchūriki of the Kyuubi. And how, more importantly, the second jinchūriki of the Kyuubi, one Uzumaki Kushina, came to Konoha and was in Konoha during the time Kyuubi attacked."

Naruto showed no signs of reacting to that, as he was well aware of all that thanks to the scroll his parents left him.

"This does bring up one question, though..." Ino added on, frowning. "If she was the jinchūriki of the Kyuubi, why did it attack? I know of her, she made something of a name for herself in Konoha. With her talents in fūinjutsu, I wouldn't have expected the Kyuubi to break free."

Shino put the book he was reading into the useless pile, before speaking up as well. "Regardless of the how or why Kyuubi broke free of Uzumaki Kushina and attacked Konoha, we can be thankful for the actions of Yondaime-sama. If he had been unable to disperse its chakra, some poor kid would have been made jinchūriki of the beast once more. They would have probably been seen as a symbol of the jailed bijū and treated horribly, if not killed outright." He frowned. "It's been nearly thirteen years since then, though. Kyuubi could reform any day now. From what's been written in the books I've read on bijū, they tend to reform ten to twenty years after death."

Naruto frowned. "So nothing on what we're looking for, just something that brings up interesting questions that might not be answerable." Sighing, he said, "Well, we've still got a few hours before dinner. So I'll help look."

Silently, they got to work and as the minutes trickled by, the piles of books continued to grow in disparity. With none of the books being what they were looking for, and only a few having some particular use.

Just as they cleared one wall of books, Itachi showed up. "Cleared the main floor just now," he said, with a disappointed expression. "It was as expected, Naruto. Nothing of use down there. Anything up here, so far?"

"No," he said, leafing through a book. "This the only unfinished room left, the others weren't of any interest. Ino and Shino found some books detailing jutsu, and more interestingly, the diary of Uzumaki Mito, the first jinchūriki of the Kyuubi."

Itachi's eyebrows rose momentarily, showing his surprise. "I'll have to give that a read at some point."

Joining his genin, he grabbed a book and perused it rather swiftly, making efficient use of his sharingan.

The Konoha shinobi found themselves making rapid progress as Itachi matched their pace by himself.

Unfortunately, by the time Naruto felt he should go prepare dinner for the group, they had gone through the last of the books. They all sighed as they recognized what that meant, they didn't succeed in finding proof of their client's heritage in Uzushiogakure.

Decadently, they headed downstairs to the kitchen. Naruto merely went through the motions, as he felt desolate at his inability to truly help one of his only members of his family.

They ate in silence, energy from the morning having dissipated.

Itachi spoke up, as the one more experienced with missions not going quite as intended. "We'll head back to Konoha tomorrow. While we didn't find what we were looking for, don't forget that the mission is still considered a success. Uzu-san's request to us was more of a hidden purpose, and wasn't included in the mission details."

His three students nodded stoically. They finished up their meal in silence and then headed to bed. No one was going to sleep very well that night.

* * *

A week passed by and they found themselves back at the gates of Konoha. Leading his team, Itachi said, "Izumo. Kotetsu. Team Seven returns from their mission."

Allowed inside, they walked silently behind their sensei. Never before would they forget this feeling - failure hidden within the confines of success.


End file.
